Toy



Patented Juney 176, 1925.

v omiso or# ramasser; :more islam.

Toy.

AppucamafmeaJanuary 14;' 1925: seriai'iro.- 2,345.

ogalfbwhom z'tmwy. concern? `Beit known that` I, FRANK ZANFAGNA, a citizen y of the 'United States, residing at Providence, iny the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, haveinvented. a new; and useful Improvementin rIoys, of which the following is aysp'ocication.-

annular groove in the end of the handle and by wetting or moistening this groove I ind that a much louder and more musical sound is produced,V when the sound box is whirled around the handle, than is produced when no moisture is used in the groove.

The object of my invention is to produce a toy, which I have named a whirligig, in which moisture is also used to produce a musical tone or sound and in which such musical tone or sound is made loud `or soft by the more or lessfrapid whirling of the sound box aroundthehandle, when in use.

My invention consists in the peculiar and novel construction of such a toy, said toy having details of construction, as will be more fully set forth hereinafter and claimed.

Figure 1 is a side view of my impnoved toy.

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sec-v tional view through the hollow handle of the toy.`

Figure 3 is a still further enlarged trans verse sectional view through the groove in the handle, taken on line 3, 3, of Figure l 1, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional viewthrough the sound-box member of the toy.

In the drawing 5 indicates the handle, 6 the sound-box and 7 the Vhorsehair operatively connecting the soundebox 6 with the handle 5, of my improved toy.

The handle 5 is in the form of a round hollow rod, preferably of wood and is constructed to have a closed end 8, an annular V-shaped groove 9, adjacent the closed end y 8 and an open end 10 closed by a stopper 11. The hollow part of the handle 5 forms a water reservoir 12 which is connected to the annular groove 9, by a duct 13.l A

sponge 14, or its equivalent, .is placed in the water reservoir 12 over the duct 131,' as shown in Figure 2; i i i v The sound-box 6, is ini the v*form ofi a cylinderk 15 open atone1 ,end'16.` and Closed at the? other end by va skin` hea-d 17 drawn tightly over. the end and.I the sides secured tol thecylindei by awvire ring 18'7 which forces therskiny into an: annular groove 21', in thesound-box.

The horsehair 7, of the required length, is doubled and then tied centrally around the handle 5in the groove 9, thereby forming a round loop 19 in the groove 9. The

ends of the two strands 20, 20, of horsehair are separated and then carried through two OFFICE.

holes in the skin head 17 and knotted together on the underside of the skin, thereby operatively securing. the sound-box to the handle, as shown in Figure l.

Vhen in use, water is placed in the water reservoir 12 and secured therein by the stopper 11. The sound-box 6 is then whirled around the handle 5, thereby producing a more or less loud musical sound or tone, the sound increasing or diminishing as the speed of the whirling motion of the sound-box is f increased or diminished. In this whirling motion of the sound-box the sound is produced by friction of the horsehair loop 19 in the groove 9 in the handle setting up vibrations, which are transmitted by the horsehair strands to and vibrates the tight skin head of the sound-box. The friction of the horsehair in the handle groove creates sufficient heat to draw moisture from the water reservoir to the handle groove, through the duct 13, to moisten the groove and the sponge 14 prevents too much moisture in the handle groove.

In practice I find that by mioistening or wetting the groove in the handle, in which the horsehair is frictionally secured, a very much louder and more musical sound is produced, also by the use of horsehair for this purpose I a toy that can be made cheaply as a toy or finely. made and also used as a musical instrument in orchestral playing.

find that I have produced Having thus described my invention I claim as new 1. In a toy of the nature described, a handle, a water reservoir in the handle, an absorbent material in the water reservoir, a sound-box, flexible means operatively connecting the sound-box with the handle and Y atively means operatively connecting the water reservoir with the said flexible means.

2. In a toy of the nature described, a hollow handle having a closed end and an an open end and Aforming awater reservoir, means for closing the open end of the handle, an annular groove adjacent one end of the handle, means for Voperatively.,connect-` ing the water reservoir with the annular groove, a sound-boxy and means for operconnecting the sound-box With the annular groove in the handle.

3. In a toy, a handle having a water reservoir, an annular groove, a duct operatively connecting the water reservoir with the annular groove, a sound-box opengat 'one end and closed at the other end by a skin head and strands of horsehair operatively connecting the Skinhead of the sound-box with the annular groove in the handle.-

4. In a toyJ the combination of the following instrumentalities, a handle having a water reservoir, a closed end, an annular ygroove adjacent one end, an open end, a

annular groove in the handle, for the purpose as described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

FRANK ZANFAGNA. 

